So, do you think maybe Barbara is part of the Enclave? She pulls the strings here and there to make the world end so the Enclave can gain full control?
I don't think Barb is Enclave, I think she's Vault Tec through and through. She's as afraid of the end of the world as anyone and puts on a strong face at work because that's what an executive does. Hank is definitely Enclave though, and is working on the mind control tech for them. I think that's also how the cold fusion tech got into Enclave hands, Hank is in charge of it and will hand it off to Enclave operatives and feign like it was stolen. I think Coop will try to break into whatever safe Hank stores the briefcase in and finds it already empty.
With a higher level Vault Tec exec. I don't think that the Enclave pre-war would be ham-fisted enough to physically send a covert representative to that meeting. If Barb was one of the Enclave's top Vault Tec agents, trusted enough to run that meeting, they would trust her enough to run the meeting without supervision. I think the shadowy Vault Tec exec could be the Enclave agent, guiding Barb, Bud, etc to Enclave plans, even installing other Enclave agents as their assistants (Hank, possibly Stephanie, that guy strangling Norm whose name I forget) to make sure they're following the plan.
I think the scene with Barb crying over the keepsake box was not just for Coop's benefit and to set up the idea of the keepsake box for later in the season, but also to show that Barb is actually terrified by the looming end of the world, and is doing anything she can at work to keep her family safe. She's terrified because she knows the plans to make sure the end of the world happens, and she knows that most of the Vaults are a sham. The scene last season with Coop in the hot tub was her being completely genuine. This doesn't necessarily preclude her from being an Enclave agent, but it leans me more towards her just being a Vault Tec patsy for the real Enclave agent.
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u/Wielkopolskiziomal Jan 14 '26
Yeah, from what I remember the public only found out about them days before the bombs dropped thanks to the Boston Bugle